Process and apparatus for drying oriental rugs



Oct. 9, 1928.

L. 8. CASE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING ORIENTAL RUGS Filed Dec. 51, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet m m m m A TTORNEYS.

octis; 1928.

L. B. CASE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING ORIENTAL RUGS Filed Dec. 31, 1926 2 Shets-Sheet' 2 INVENTOR.

M huh/rm ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LYNN B. CASE, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN WALDRON CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION .OF NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING ORIENTAL BUGS.

Application fi1ed December This invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating heavy textile fabrics, and more particularly, rugs.

Rugs, as they come from the manufacturer, particularly from the Orient, require very thorough washing before they can be placed on sale. Moreover, from time to time after use, it is desirable that this washing should be repeated. Such rugs, however, when wet, .are quite heavy, hard to handle, and difficult to dry. It is an object of this invention to overcome these difiiculties.

Within the broad scope of this invention means are provided for taking the rugs in the form they are delivered from the washroom, passing them into a dryer, causing them to arrange themselves within the dryer spaced from each other so as to be thoroughly dried and then removing them from the dryer. A convenient way of accomplishing thisconsists in causing the rugs to progress slowly through a dryer of such dimensions relative to the speed of movement that the rugs will be thoroughly dried by the time they have completed their progress.

The wet rugs are ordinarily delivered-in a pile and it is desired that they be again piled after drying. A practical embodiment of the invention therefore, consists in means for picking the rugs from the pile and delivering them to the drier, and means for removing them from the drier and depositing them upon a pile. Both of these latter means are preferably arranged to work vertically, in order that the rugs may be removed from or restored to the pile without beingdragged along the floor. Within the dryer the rugs are preferably allowed to hang vertically, and in order that they may be maintained in spaced relation it is preferred that they be moved through the dryer horizontally. It is an object, therefore, of this invention to handle the rugs automatically and expeditiously and with aminimum of expense.

It is a further object to dry the rugs quickp ly and thoroughly with a minimum of labor and inconvenience.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part described hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect to. each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction,combinations of ele- 31, 1926. Serial No. 158,148.

ments and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified III the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed, description taken 1n connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus embodylng this invention, when viewed from the receiving end.

Figure 2 is a similar view when viewed from the delivery end.

Figure 3 is a side elevation, certain parts being broken away to facilitate the disclosure.

Figure 4 is a top plan view partly in section. 5

Figure 5 is a plan of one form. of hook which may be employed.

Figure 6 is a detailshowing the relation of the rug carriers to the drier conveyor;

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates the ground or floor of a building in which the apparatus is to be installed, on which are supported a plurality of uprights 2-2, and 33. Each of the uprights 2 is preferably connected with one of the uprights 3 by a horizontal beam 4 to form a bridge and these bridges are parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance as to cause them to support the ends of rug supports or poles, as will be described, but such as to permit a rug to pass between them, the two horizontal members forming together a pairof tracks adapted to support.a carrier forthe ends of the rug supports or poles in a manner to be described. One such bridge is substantially identical with the other, so that a description of one will be suflicient.

The uprights 2-2 and 3-3 respectively, carry at their upper and lower'ends pulleys, 5-5 and 6.6. An endless belt or chain 7 asses around the pulleys 55 at the receiv- 1ng end of the apparatus and a second'belt 8 passes over the pulleys 6-6 at the delivery end. The horizontal beam 4, which connects the upper end of the upright 2 with its corresponding upright 3, 'must be of sufficient strength or so reinforced andsupported as to' support the plurality of rugs to be dried. It is preferably provided, on its upper surface, with a groove 11 in which moves a travelling belt or carrier 12 turnlng around pulleys 13, 14 upon the uprights 2 and 3. This chain may be provided with anti-friction wheels if desired, to facilitate its movement over the track when loaded.

j The driving mechanism may convenientlybe described as f0llows:-

It is preferred to drive the horizontal carrier 12 from the delivery end. The power is, therefore, applied at that end. A motor 15, at the upper end of the upright 3 operates a transverse shaft 16. The pulleys 66 at the bottom of the upright 3 are both mounted upon a common transverse conveyor shaft 17, and the shaft 17 is driven from the shaft 16 by'a drive chain 18 meshing with sprockets 19 and 20 upon the shafts 16 and 17 respectively. At each side of the machine at the top, at the delivery end, are provided short stub shafts 21 journalled in bearings 22 carried by the uprights. One of the pulleys 14 is rigidly attached to each of these shafts, while the pulleys 6 are rotatively ournalled thereon. The stub shaft 21 carries at its outer ends large gears 23 meshing with pinions 24 upon the shaft 16 and these gears are fast upon the shaft, whereby the sprocket wheels 14 may be driven through the pinions and gear from the shaft 16. A similar stub shaft 26, at the top of the upright 2, at the receiving end of the machine, ,is journalled in bearings 27 at the top of the upright. Each of these stub shafts carries fast upon itselfone of the pulleys 5, at the same time serving as a journal for one of the pulleys 35- -end of the machine, carries gears 30 meshing with gears 31 fast upon the stub shafts 26,

13. A transverse shaft 29 at the receiving wherebyv the pulleys 5 are driven from the shaft 29 by the gears30 and 31. ,The transverse shaft 29 is driven from the transverse, shaft 16 through the medium of a chain 33' meshing withsprockets 34 and 35 uponthe "shafts 16 and29 respectively.

Each' of the lower. pulleys 5 is'separatel'y journalled upon a shaft 36 carried by the upright. Y

By the foregoing construction it will be clear that the motor will drive all of the conveyor and carrier chains from the delivery .end of the chain and there isno transverse shaft extending across the pathway of the g casing 45 forms a chamber which surrounds the carrier 12 and the upper ortions of the conveyors 7 and 8 and exten s below 'the carrier, as shown at 46, far enough to permit the looped rugs to ban from poles upon the belt without touching t e bottom of the casing. The conveyors 7 and 8 have their lower portions extending out of the bottom of the casing through orifices 48 and 49, to permit the loading and unloading of the rugs. These orifices-are such/that a minimum of communication isafiorded between the interior of the casing and the room in which-it is placed, so that the atmosphere is passed through it warm, dry air. This is illustrated in the drawing by the blower 50, forcing air into the chamber, and an outlet 51 for carrying out the moist air. This outlet 51 may, itself, be provided with airex-' hausting means, if desired. The control of the movement of the air through the openings 48 and 49 may be attained in large measure by controlling the relative air pressure within and without the casing, by controlling the relative flow of air through the inlet and exhaust conduits. Thus, if a pressure be maintained within the casing which is less than the pressure in the room, no air will flow out of the openings 48 and 49.

The air ispreferably carried along the top or one side of the casing and then discharged laterally or vertically across it and exhausted from the other side or the bottom, so that it passes transversely of the chamber parallel to and between the rugs. For this reason the chamber may be made larger on the sides or at top and bottom, to provide aspace to distribute the air equally between the rugs.

The rugs may be conveniently handled by looping them over a pole which may be made about 3 or 4 inphes in diameter. With this method of support the belts 7 and 8 are preferably in the form of chains provided with a plurality of hooks 54, adapted for the reception of the ends of such a pole 55. In operation a pole may be laid in one of the hooks 54 of the belt 7 immediately above the pile of wet rugs, thereupon one free end of the rug maybe drawn over the pole by the attendant, whereupon the upward movement of the hooks will grip both ends of the pole to loop the rug and carry it upwardly from the pile. The carrier 12 is also preferably in the form of a chain, but it need not.

have supports or hooks to receive the ends of the poles, since they may rest directly upon undesirable to attempt to load another rug on the conveyor 7 until the-first .has been carried out of the wa It is'practical, therefore, to cause the belt; to make one revolution every 10 minutes and to provide upon it two hooks 54 diametrically spaced upon the belt. Thus one book will be delivering a pole and the rug -it carries to the b lt 12 while the other hook is being loaded. The carrier '12, however, may be made to move them the rugs upon the belt 12. It should, however, for convenience, have such speed that one rug is completely delivered and out of the way before the next one is deposited upon its hook. It is therefore convenientoto cause this belt to travel at substantially the speed of the belt 7. I A stand may be arranged below the de livery end of the belt 8, which stand may have an inclined surface 61 for convenience. As the end of the looped rug comes out of the exit orifice 49, the attendant takes one side of it and pulls it over onto the surface 61 or of the rugs lying thereon.v It is desirable that the poles be kept from rotating during the a loading and unloading operation lest the rugs slip off the poles.

A receptacle 62 is arranged below the lower end of the belt 8 to receive the supporting poles from which the rugs have been removed as the poles are dropped from the conveyor and this receptacle 62 may be mounted on Wheels or on a track not shown to facilitate removing the poles for reuse. I prefer, however, to provide automatic means to return the' poles 'to the delivery end.- This maycomprise a hopper'beneath the conveyor 8, having an opening for the delivery of poles through its bottom. This- A conveyor extends from beneath the conveyor 8 to beopening has a timed closure.

neathand almost in contact with the conveyor 7. This conveyor has polereceiving cleats at spaced intervals, and the closure is timed to deposit one pole on each such pair of cleats.

the pathway of the hooks 54. while .a guide carries the pole up with the hook'until it is engaged by the latter. The lower conveyor, the closure for the hopper and the conveyor will be so timed that a pole, is delivered to the hook 54 just as it comes to the bottom to be loaded.

, With the construction outlined there is some tendency as the rugs are removed from the poles,'for the poles themselves to roll out of the h0oks 54 of the conveyor 8. This may V be overcome either by increasing the height of the hook on the outer side or-by removing the rugs on the inside to a similar'table located there as shown at 63. This result may also be attained by reversing the direction of movement of the belt 8 and arrang- 7 and by that pole are carried upwardly intothe dryer over the pulley 5 and deposited upon the carrier 12. This movement 1s relatively rapid. As soon as the poles are dropped upon the carrier 12, however, they are moved horizontally out of position to be engaged by the hooks 54 and are'carried through the dryer at slow speed. I have found it practical to employ a speed of one foot in five minutes for the belt 12, so that, as will be seen, the rugs arespaced from each other by one foot. The belt 12 should be long enough to insure the thorough drying of the rug before delivery and I have found, 1n the conditions above outlined, that 40 feet 1s a practical length.

It will be seen that by the above apparatus the rugs may be easily raised and placed in the dryer and thoroughly dried and then may be easily removed. Should difficulty be experienced due to the tendency of the poles to rotate in the hooks, they-may be so shaped or so associated with the hooks as to restrain the tendency to' rotate.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statementsof the scope of the invention which. as a-matter of language, mightbe said to fall therebet'ween.

Having described my invention,qwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: i

' 1. In a combination of apparatus for drying rugs, a casing substantially closed, means for controlling the relative air pressure within and without the casing, means for conveying rugs within the casing, said means being adapted to elevate a rug when one end is looped thereover, means for conveying the rugs through the casing at a predetermined rate to assure even spacing and thorough drying, means for delivering the rugs without travel of said means, the said means supporting the other edge until the first edge is in substantially desired piling position.

.2. In a combination of apparatus for handling rugs, a casing substantially enclosed, conveying means for delivering rug-supporting poles in a spaced relation within the easing, a track in thecasing and a carrier supported thereby for moving the rug-supporting poles through the casing, second conveyor means for receiving the poles from the carrier and delivering them at a desired rate Without the casing, all said conveyor means entering the casing through openings in the bottom, the conveyor means being so positioned that the openings need not be appreci;

ably wider than the shortest distance between the opposite sides of the conveyor, and means for establishing air conditions in the casing to substantially prevent air within the casing flowing out of said openings.

3. In a combination, of apparatus for drying rugs, means for engaging a series of poles at regular intervals, said means being ar-- ranged to elevate a rug when one end is looped thereover, means for disengaging the poles from said first means automatically when raised to a predetermined height, means for conveying the rugs at a slower rate through an enclosure havlng an atmosphere of predetermined temperature andpressure, means at one end of the enclosure adjacent thetop for causing the passage ofdry air through the enclosure, an exhaust at the opposite end of the chamber adjacent the bottom for carrying out the moist air, the air being controlled in its passage through the enclosure so that it passes transversely of the enclosure, first being carried along the top and then discharged laterally or vertically across it and exhausted at the bottom, and means for low- 40 ering the-rugs from the enclosure.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LYNN B. CASE. 

